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All On The Line In Matchweek 15 Men's Final Match-Ups

08/16/2019, 3:45pm EDT

By League1 Ontario staff

Who needs to win? Who could lose? It's all at stake with #playoffs2019 right around the corner...

(Photo: Bob Twidle)

The 2019 League1 Ontario men's season wraps up over the Aug 16 - 18 period with Matchweek 15, but the pot has not boiled yet on the destiny of several teams determined to make their mark in the playoffs.

Let's take a closer look...

At the top of the table, three teams sit in "untouchable" territory - Oakville Blue Devils (35 pts), Vaughan SC (34 pts) and Alliance United (33 pts).

None of the top three seeds can be caught in the final matchweek by the teams below them, so they will enjoy the benefit of being able to choose home or away status in their first quarter-final round.

However, any of these three sides could flip-flop position with the other, depending on results. And so who do they have??

Oakville's trip to Windsor will be tough, especially with the southern Ontario side showing great progress in 2019, but one would reasonably expect the Blue Devils and Alliance to show their class and win these contests handily.

Vaughan, on the other hand, are up against a very strong Aurora side that will know a win is their only hope at post-season qualification. Keep your eyes on this fixture!

(Photo: Kevin Raposo Photography)

The real warfare in Matchweek 15 is going to be with teams occupying positions fourth through tenth in the table, as currently ranked playoff sides will be hungrily eyeing that fourth and final top seed spot.

Currently, Sigma FC (27 pts) occupy fourth place in the table, ahead of Masters FA (27 pts) by the thinnest of margins as both sides are tied on points, but Sigma go ahead based on League1's second tiebreaker - most points in head to head regular season competition (Sigma took out Masters 2-1 back in May).

Both sides do not need to win in their final match, as the 6th place side is too far back to catch them, but Sigma will need to match Masters' result if they are to hold a top seed position.

Given the day between each match, and a considerable difference in quality between Masters and their opponent, Masters do look like a decent bet to overtake Sigma into seeded territory if the Mississauga academy is not careful against a North Miss side with serious momentum and drive.

(Photo: Kevin Raposo Photography)

Occupying sixth position in the table is North Mississauga (23 pts), who have proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with after gelling well under the leadership of first year League1 coach, Aleks Balta. But the Panthers are not 100 per cent safe yet.

Tonight's big fixture could be euphoria or heartbreak for the Mississauga side as there is a slim chance that a loss or draw could even bounce them out of the playoffs.

This would require the three teams below - 7th place FC London (22 pts), 8th place Woodbridge Strikers (22 pts) and 9th place Aurora FC (21 pts) - to win their Matchweek 15 matches, combined with a low-scoring draw by North Miss.

In this case, the Panthers would be tied on points with Aurora FC for the final spot in the eight-team playoffs grouping, with tiebreakers being called into play. As both teams would be equal on points and drew each other 1-1 in the regular season, the dividing line would come down to which side has a better goal difference followed by a tiebreaker of which side has the most goals for.

Destiny-shaping for these teams is of course all about who can take the three points at this stage. Since we know who North Miss and Aurora are playing, we'll take a gander at who London and Woodbridge have: